Aftershock of 16 Days of Government Shutdown

I watched the House vote on the news as I would if they televised our military trying to disarm a nuclear bomb. Few Americans understand how close we came to an unprecedented economic crisis on Oct. 17. Most analysts and investors said that if the U.S. had failed to make an interest payment on its loans, stock markets around the world would have crashed, according to CNN

America could not have survived a default in any form, so I thank my lucky stars that Congress finally decided they needed to do their civic duty in order to have even a remote chance for reelection. Contentious citizens of this once great country must keep a critical eye on our immature government to ensure no talk of shutdowns pops up anytime soon.

The shutdown threw about 24 billion dollars in the garbage can, according to Time. That money could have gone to say, my friends that I saw scrambling to get their federal student loans processed while the government closed its doors. Those already with loans have cause for celebration because though students currently granted loans experienced minimal difficulty retrieving their money, most likely they would have seen either their interest premiums skyrocket or those funds would have dried up had the United States went above the debt ceiling. I have come to realize our government officials do not see most of our spending as “mandatory”, except of course the money that goes into their own pockets via our tax dollars. Anyone else feeling robbed here?

I am lucky enough I have not yet had to take out a student loan, but I cannot predict the future. Some personal catastrophe may come up and I may need a loan for school. For this reason of self-preservation and for moral obligations too numerous to count, I implore the readers of The West Georgian to speak up if they feel like the big wigs in congress are waving their power around like an AK-47.

The American democratic system surely has its flaws, because every nation runs under the jurisdiction of flawed people. Do not assume I lost faith in our system and our constitution, because I still hold my American flag with pride.

The GOP republicans, a party I used to support, curtailed the natural order of our established law-making process when they refused to sign the budget as a way to try to blackmail our president into repelling the Affordable Healthcare Act. They took the crazy and lazy way to try to make their agenda known, instead of working to get a republican president into office who could attempt to overturn the act in a more respectable manner. I am not a proponent of Obama but I was proud he did not repel his legacy, because that would send the message to not only the republicans, but to people of power worldwide that America submits to blackmail.

I still think compromise could have been reached sooner and still needs negotiating in congress. I now call myself an independent because clearly neither of our parties know what is best for this country.

The students and faculty at this school, if given the power that Congress has, could probably make wiser choice then our congressmen and women right now.

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